I worte a bit too fast on the title. I meant to write destined and in the post I meant to write conservatives but misspelled. Thanks for everything.
Don’t give them any $$$.
If I really cared about who our president is in 2013 I’d be really concerned. But I don’t so I’m not.
The Titanic hit the iceberg. The water is up to C deck, and I really don’t care who the captain is any more. All I care about is finding more nails so I can build my family a life raft out of deck chairs.
We’re on our own, no matter who wins.
I disagree with this article in the sense that the GOP and the American people know that Obama has to go. Then change Congress so that control will be brought back to the people of this country. Again, control Congress and the states and you will control the President. But for not, go with Romney, get Obama out and take the next four years to change things. We can’t wait until an election to start changing things. If a third party is needed it has to start now. Either that or change the Republican party to what we want it to be.
Please remember that conservatives must vote this November, no matter what we think of the liberal from Massachusetts. We don’t have to vote for Romney, particularly in states that Obama is guaranteed to carry, but we have to vote. Whether we end up with a big government liberal like Obama in our White House or with a big government liberal like Romney in our White House, we need as conservative a Congress as possible to restrain the excesses of the administration. Vote!
Sure looks like time for a third party. But respected conservative leaders would have to get on board early for this to happen - maybe in time for 2016?
I think W was probably the last American President. I’m not sure what Obama is, but by 2016 he will be Chavez or Castro if he wins re-election.
It’s quite obvious at this point that the GOP is decadent and worthless. Look at their presumptive nominee. The only thing holding it together is a fear of Barack Obama, and let’s face it, that’s only going to be a motivating factor for the Republican partisans. For a lot of folks who aren’t beholden to the GOP, fear of Obama alone is not going be enough to motivate them. You have to give people a reason to vote FOR you, not just use wearisome scare tactics. Romney doesn’t give anybody a reason to vote FOR him. He drives off conservatives because he’s a progressive. And he doesn’t attract other progressives because they already have their guy sitting in the White House. When you get right down to it, the large bulk of Romney’s 44% that he’ll get on election day is going to be made up of that third of the country that formally identifies with the Republican Party, and who therefore thinks that they “have” to vote for him, no matter what.
Is your country not worth one last Hail Mary?
Well, I didn’t vote for the rino mcain, didn’t vote fot the rino dole, wished I had not voted for the rino elder bush. Problem is the establishment rino gop is to stupid to learn. But at least I sleep well...
Detsinty can scuk seomteims
Amen, Mozilla. Jim, THANK YOU SO MUCH for this wonderful website. I hope every other FReeper has joined me in contributing to the FReepathon.
Actually both parties may implode.
I am seeing all kinds of fault lines and fissures opening up on the Democrat side (Enviros vs. Unions, Blacks vs. Hispanics, DC Dems vs. State/Local Dems on Fracking, etc.)
I don’t see why any rational person would find it difficult to choose between ANY non-Obama candidate and the dog-eater.
We know what the dog-eater HAS done in his first term. And, thanks to his bungled handling of an “open mic”, we know what the dog-eater WANTS TO DO, if America’s most incompetent President EVER is re-elected.
So please don’t believe every poll-tested lie and every cleverly shaded half-truth deployed by the White House, as it tries to sow dissention among us patriots!
And please remember that “cutting off your nose to spite your face” is a form of madness...
I think that the nomination of Romney, especially if Rubio is his running mate, will signal the death of the GOP. I also think that over the next 12 years you will see the rise of a 3rd party based on conservative and constitutional values. It will start immediately after this election - assuming there is an election.
The GOP is a damaged brand and a lost cause. Even if conservatives could take over the party, it would still be seen and portrayed as the party of the rich, bigoted homophobes. No one is going to listen to anything that comes out of the GOP - unless we happen to find another Reagan (good luck to us on that one).
We have to stop looking at this short-term. We’re trying to hold on to something that doesn’t exist and can’t be what we want it to be. We need to start planning a long-term replacement of the GOP. How long do we try to save this “marriage” before we finally recognize that it can’t be saved?
We must keep electing conservatives to the House and Senate, but we’re not likely to field a viable 3rd party candidate for a couple election cycles. If we just keep on doing what we’re doing, in 12 years we’re still going to be pissing and moaning about how the GOP isn’t listening to us. I would just as soon that the GOP, as a Party, be history and forgotten by then.
Vote for Romney; get rid of Obama. Then get to work with Congress and State Legislatures to set the agenda. Romney is a politician; he will follow a course of lease resistance. Let's face it, he is has no ideology to speak of. He is relatively harmless when measured against Obama.
Republican Party = Whig Party
I disagree with 80% of what you wrote - because you present a recipe that will lead to conservatives loosing at the polls BIG TIME.
I am extremely disappointed that we are STUCK with Romney. But the writing was on the wall many many months ago - if we wanted a conservative to get ahead of Romney, we needed to consolidate our support to ONE candidate - but we never did. Over the initial primaries - it seemed that Romney might get 30%, and 70% were for a field of Newt, Santorum, Paul, etc. - and when spread out - each candidate not named Romney was less than Romney. WE SCREWED UP by having too many conservatives run against each other.
The results are in ...we are stuck with Romney. Any effort to make it NOT ROMNEY will destroy the Republican party and the nation. So we have several options:
Option 1: Make a concerted effort to go after a 3rd party conservative candidate. Keep pushing how Romney is as bad or worse than Obama, and pray for a miracle that has never happened in our nation’s history. Such an effort is doomed to failure - it will destroy the Republican party and the nation. It will also hurt efforts to take back the Senate and increase the number of conservatives in the House.
Option 2: Spend the next few months advertising that there will be an effort for a “floor fight” at the convention - which won’t work since Romney will have enough delegates to lock in the nomination, and almost all the other candidates have come out to support Romney. This is a wonderful thing to do if you support the Democrats. Rather than focusing on why Obama must be replaced and spending the effort to get conservatives elected at all levels, we can spend time trashing Romney - and give the Democrats more ammo to use during the general election.
Option 3 - we need to “suck it up” and work at the local level to get CONSERVATIVES elected to the House and Senate. If the conservatives increase in the House and Senate, we will get conservative bills put forward. If Romney nominates a “moderate” to be confirmed by the Senate (various positions in the Executive Branch or Judicial Nominations) - the conservatives can rally to oppose a bad candidate (like happened when Bush43 put forth the name Harriet Miers for the Supreme Court).
So ....you can decide which option you wish to pursue - and be willing to bear the responsibility for the consequences. Maybe next time around - we can encourage all conservatives that want to run to do something to select the best BEFORE the start of any primaries - with the agreement that all but one will drop out and endorse and support the one selected as the best. [For example - have a number of events throughout the country where each candidate presents him/herself, ideas, goals, etc. Maybe a debate between these candidates, and have a vote by attendees. Maybe do something on-line and have votes taken. In this modern age, with Al Gore’s internet, we certainly could come up with something better than what has happened in the past.]
Me - I will suck it up and support all the conservatives running in my state (the People’s Republic of Washington) - and most are never as conservative as I wish they were...put I understand that if they want to get elected, they have to soften some of the conservative positions that they hold. I will hold my nose and vote for Romney. Maybe he will select a true conservative to be his VP.
BUT - I am willing to give Romney the benefit of the doubt. He might act moderate to liberal to be elected as Governor of a liberal state....but as a businessman - HE KNOWS that this country is on the precipice of failing into a major depression unless good business decisions are made. He is both a politician and a businessman. If he doesn’t do the right thing, he won’t get re-elected, and Democrats will retake everything, and we will have a depression of the likes that will make the Great Depression look trivial. Romney will have to use his business acumen to save the country.
So - each of us has to choose whether we want to risk 4 more years of Obama by not supporting Romney - or suck it up and support Romney (and maybe work to change the process so we don’t keep getting stuck with the 30% candidate because the 70% vote goes to too many conservatives!)
The ABO crowd fails to see the gravity of the problem or understand how true conservbatives feel about voting for Romney.
Steady compasses remind us that at all times, in all places, when people react in fear and panic, they usually make bad choices they'd never have made if they were in their right minds.
The ABO mentality is understandable and normal as a first reaction.
I think folks like you and me have evaluated ABO and as time has allowed, seen that it's a desperate and stupid strategy. It's the elephant in the room: voting for the Republican is voting against our own moral and financial self-interest. Set in the context of All Powerful Omnipotent Oz Obama as the "alternative," it remains as true as ever: voting for Romney is voting against our self-interests.
In fact, a lot of us have been steadfastly holding our noses and voting for bad Republican in order to fight the very same things Romney embodies -- nationalized health care, on-demand abortion, gay "rights," global warming, and activist judges to twist law. We've been voting Republican all these years to FIGHT that stuff. It is absurd to vote for Romney. Plumb loco.
I know what my strategy will be if it's O vs R. I'll vote third party for the express purpose of driving the winner's plurality vote-count as low as possible. It's my duty to vote smart. Frankly, the best chance we've got is to make sure whichever bastard wins, has the majority of the vote count against him.
Wouldn’t surprise me if this turned out to be the year the R Potty disappeared...but whadda i know...
Tom Dilorenzo, etc have written on this for years...the D Potty will continue on as they have since time immemorial as always, under one name or another...the poor will always be with us...
Semper Watching!
*****